Right now, we are at the last stages of AEW’s tournament to determined Hikaru Shida’s opponent for Revolution. The tournament overall has been received positively by most fans.
The tournament has also left a lot of talking points about the women’s division in AEW and the future of it.
Maki Itoh & Veny
Despite both wrestlers losing in the first round, Maki Itoh and Veny are the biggest winners of this tournament. Both wrestlers stole the show during the two matches they were part of for AEW.
Maki Itoh Twitter game and performance have stolen the hearts of the AEW fanbase and now the hashtag #SignMakiItoh has been a recurring thing on Twitter since the AEW fanbase saw her for the first time.
Veny had with Emi Sakura one of the best matches of the tournament and Veny was able to show the world why more people need to pay attention to Veny. In a similar case to Maki Itoh, fans on social media have clamored for Veny to be offered a contract with the promotion.
There’s no doubt that Veny and Maki Itoh will be offered a contract in the promotion someday. Mei Suruga and Rin Kadokura also became fan favorites and maybe they will be offer contracts too.
Riho
AEW women’s division really missed their ace. Riho in just two weeks has reminded the world why the AEW fanbase missed her so much. Riho was also a ratings draw in her return and every time she’s on screen she trends on social media.
The return of Riho is good news for the division and bad news for her haters that thought it was a bad idea to push when AEW first started.
What’s next for Riho? That’s the billion dollar question, most likely, she’ll face Serena Deeb for the NWA women’s title sooner rather than later.
Glimpses
This tournament also gave all of us glimpses of what the division would look like if we were in normal circumstances. The mix of American talent with Joshi was the plan since day one and to finally be able to see some of shows the care AEW has for the Joshi scene in particular.
Hopefully, we can see Yuka Sakzaki, Rin Kudokora and some of the joshi featured in the tournament back soon.
Next Year
Most likely, AEW will bring back this tournament and may even bring back some of the talent we saw on this edition and some new faces. There’s also a lot of things that need to be improved upon like featuring all the tournament matches on TV and other aspects like that.
Overall , this was home run for AEW and what the division really needed big time. The future of the AEW women’s division looks bright.
